"I don't want to be a second someone, I want to be the first me," this is how a 23-year-old ambitious computer engineer, who has become the first Kashmiri to develop an Android application, describes herself on her Facebook page.

The Android application named 'Dial Kashmir'
contains over 500 contacts of government and private departments – a one stop source for "essential information".

'Dial Kashmir' contains important contacts of different departments, officials and public utilities and would be of immense help to the locals and tourists alike, says Mehvish Mushtaq, who holds a Bachelors (B.E.) in Computer Science.

"I felt a need to develop such an application because unlike outside where there are many apps and websites which contain such information, Kashmir had none. 'Dial Kashmir' would provide information easily to the people here. There are many users of Android platform based mobile phones here," Mehvish, a resident of uptown Barzulla here, told PTI.

Mehvish claims that the application has witnessed an average rating of 4.7 out of 5 with a thousand plus downloads on Google Play.

Mehvish did an online course of Android application designing in January and put together her skills and desire to develop a "helpful Kashmir centric application" and with an "actually, I can" attitude – as her display picture on Facebook suggests - developed 'Dial Kashmir'.

"I did this online course at the end of which I had to develop something, as part of the project. It took me about 2 weeks to develop this application," she said.

'Dial Kashmir' provides users detailed information like addresses, phone numbers and email ids of various essential services and other departments in Kashmir. It is a one stop source for information on healthcare, education, transport, police and so many others and one does not need to surf through internet pages, official websites and directories," she said.